GOP Rep. Comstock holds on to Virginia House seat

Freshman Rep. Barbara Comstock (R) is projected to win reelection in Virginia’s 10th District.

It was a hard-fought battle between Comstock and her opponent, real estate developer LuAnn Bennett, a Democrat. The Republican-leaning district ended up being a toss-up race, as Bennett used GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s string of controversies to hit the incumbent lawmaker.

Both sides spent big in the race, with television ads flooding the Washington metropolitan area, which includes Comstock’s Virginia district, in the months before the election. 

{mosads}Comstock vastly out-raised her opponent, bringing in $4.65 million from January 2015 to mid-October 2016. The figure includes help from her colleagues and a joint fundraising committee the lawmaker has with other women in Congress. She spent $3.7 million on her reelection effort.

In the year since Bennett announced her candidacy, her campaign has taken in about $2.2 million, including a $90,000 personal loan. Through mid-October, she had spent virtually all of it, with only $83,000 remaining in the bank.

Both campaigns also had deep-pocketed allies rushing to their aid.

Super PACs, party committees and other outside groups spent roughly $7.5 million against Bennett, according to Federal Election Commission data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and a handful of outside groups spent about $5 million to oppose Comstock.

Comstock was able to overcome Bennett’s efforts to tie her to Trump and his controversial remarks.

Bennett’s ads said Comstock agreed with Trump on overturning Roe v. Wade and accused her of being silent on Trump’s rhetoric toward women.

“Barbara Comstock hopes you won’t notice, but she and Donald Trump are closer than you think” on equal pay for women, defunding Planned Parenthood, immigration and national security, said one ad.

Polls showed Trump was not popular in Virginia’s 10th, but it wasn’t enough to keep Comstock from victory.

The race, though, highlighted how Trump’s White House bid often complicated matters for down-ballot Republicans. In virtually any other election, Comstock would have likely sailed to victory, political watchers said.

In return, advertisements from Comstock and the National Republican Congressional Committee painted Bennett as elite and out of touch with Virginians. 

They mentioned her condo in a swanky Washington building, allegations regarding her real estate dealings and brought up her marriage to former Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.). Moran, her husband from 2004 to 2010, has since become a Washington lobbyist. 

Bennett denied Comstock’s claims against her. Responding to questions about her residency, she told The Washington Post that while she did spend some nights in a D.C. condo, “she lived her life primarily in rural Virginia.” 

The race turned ugly, and Bennett’s lawyers even considered filing a lawsuit over some of the claims in the advertisements, according to the Post.